"What do you mean by that?"
Adrien's face instantly changed once Rey concluded his words regarding the world beyond, disregarding it as meaningless. The facade of the one shrouded in darkness refused to accept those words, and his frown grew deeper as a result.
"You don't know what you're talking about." He responded to Rey with a snicker. "Whatever glimpse you saw doesn't justify your conclusion."
Rey shrugged as he advanced further.
"Perhaps… but I certainly know those above do not have our best interests at heart. You realize the only reason you can still use your System is because we found a way to slow down the corrosion of the world."
"Oh? Tell me more about that!"
"You're not listening…" Rey shook his head as he glared at Adrien.
Just as he suspected, talking to this person had no use. Adrien was too manipulative to be trusted, and too obsessed with his goals to be reasoned with. The most optimal route to save the world would be to destroy him.
And—
"I'll make it quick."
—Rey had long resolved to perform this task.
WHOOOSH!
The entire area trembled as Rey made his way to Adrien, shocking the latter with his immense speed. Despite how powerful Adrien had become, he was nowhere near strong enough to stop Rey's march.
BOOOM!
The blow alone caused everything unprotected by the darkness to erupt.
In that single instant, the moon itself exploded—sending shards of its rocky body flying in all directions—some in the direction of the planet beneath it.
Rey noticed this and pulled all of the rocks together, causing them to boil up as they stuck together. He then targeted Adrien, who had been ragdolled towards his machine, and hurled the massive orb of burning intensity at him.
As expected… the damage was catastrophic.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Rey narrowed his eyes as he looked at Adrien and instantly noticed a detail that wasn't present the last time they fought. Despite his earlier punch and the entire destruction of an energy-charged moon around him, the boy remained completely unharmed.
"Hahaha! Did you think I wouldn't expect your attack at some point? You won't be able to destroy me or my barrier that way." Adrien grinned as he stared at Rey from a distance.
"...."
"I can't be destroyed, and neither can this barrier—not until the task of my machine is complete."
"I see now… so that's what happened."
"Hm?" Adrien cocked his head as darkness swelled around his body, protecting every fraction of it with immense energy.
"Emil… it's been a while." Rey smiled as he looked at Adrien—no, not at him, but the slimy darkness he had hidden beneath the darkness. "I thought you were dead since our connection was severed, but now it makes sense how he isn't receiving any damage."
Emil had infinite durability, and as such, if one could properly cultivate that quality of hers and wear her like a suit, they could protect their bodies from whatever attack that was thrust at them.
'She can even take the power of Ultimate Ray… impressive.'
He had initially thought Adrien used the darkness that shrouded him to protect himself, but it was all to hide Emil. After all, Rey's current 'Ray' could destroy practically anything within H'Trae… even energy.
But Emil wasn't from H'Trae and she also had infinite durability.
In essence, Adrien—who was her new master—had attained virtual indestructibility as a result.
He was invincible.
'Or so he thinks…' Rey charged forward, rushing towards the grinning Adrien.
Before he could react, he grabbed him by the throat and glared deep into his eyes. Then, he caused his entire body to burst in pure white light—eviscerating every fragment of darkness that surrounded Adrien until only the slime suit he wore underneath remained.
"I'm going to strip her from you."
"You can't." Adrien yelled with a laugh. "I've made sure we're permanently bound together."
Rey clutched at Adrien's chest, feeling the resistant slime pushing back against him against its will. Then, he connected deeply to it with his mind.
At that point, he could hear faint sounds coming from within it.
~Master… please… kill me…~
Rey wished he could fulfill Emil's wishes, but all of his Skills were nearly useless against her—especially now that she had matured to this point.
'Even my SSS-Tier Skills cannot affect completely who isn't of H'Trae. With the System's collapse and the world barely hanging together, the rules have gotten a lot looser, so there isn't regulation and Stats to fully exploit when it comes to such an otherworldly entity.'
All of H'Trae's leftover resources were focused on its natives.
And, by specification, Otherwordlers like Rey.
The rest were not particularly beyond the System, but without the strong hold of the System, he wouldn't be able to use [Appraisal] or [Clairvoyance] on them. This was why he didn't notice Emil when he first attacked Adrien, and he couldn't track down Adrien as well.
However, despite all this, Rey didn't give up hope.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
He tried every destructive Skill at his disposal, aiming for both Adrien and his machine, but both didn't budge in the slightest. As they fought in the vastness of space, high above the the war-ridden H'Trae, Rey swam through the darkness and kept assaulting the far weaker Adrien—finding it impossible to win.
After exhausting all of his conventional options, he decided to create some distance from Adrien, his back turned to H'Trae as he glared at the darkness-covered individual before him.
"Is that it? You've given up already?"
"Something like that." Rey shrugged. "None of my attacks are really going through."
"Hmm… is that so?" Adrien smiled as he gazed at Rey condescendingly. Their relationship over the years had evolved over time, and even he could not have predicted that their interactions would lead to this juncture.
"You should have responded to me back then."
"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but… I guess I'll give it my all this time."
All of a sudden, Rey drew both palms together and began to gather all the essences of his destructive Skills. Active and Passive Skills worked together in tandem, and coagulated between both hands as they glimmered with incredible power.
Adrien noticed the sheer intensity of the power being gathered and whistled.
"That's some incredible power. I reckon it would be able to destroy the planet behind you quite easily." He smiled. "But, even something of that scale won't—"
"Emil… I know there's still a lot I have to apologize for. You've been the most amazing Familiar to me, and without you… I never would have made it as far as I have. Remember the fight with The Oracle? Our adventure with the Elves? How you perfectly tricked Adrien and got all those nice Skills like a great Familiar should…"
The moment Rey began to speak, Adrien felt his body slowly shake.
"Hm? This is…?!"
"All this time, you've told me how much you love me… I never said it back despite constantly feeling the same." Rey smiled softly. "Thank you, Emil, for everything you've done… and I love you too."
At this point, Adrien could hear several loud screams in his head—all of them from Emil.
Despite suppressing her, her loud cries continued.
~I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, REYYYYY!!!~
Rey knew she was uttering those words within Adrien, because he simply knew Emil that well.
And it was because of this that he uttered his next and final command to her.
"Please, Emil… die for me."
And, much to Adrien's surprise, happiness filled Emil's heart as she joyfully responded to his cold request.
~AS YOU WITH, REY!~
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!